Great Britain progress to historic semi-finals with hard fought win over Spain

Great Britain’s men progressed to the Wheelchair Basketball World Championship last four for the first time since 1975 with a historic victory over Spain.

After leading the charge against hosts Germany in the previous round, George Bates continued to shine with a vital 18-point contribution to clinch a 67-62 victory.

GB made a dominant start to the first quarter before Spain broke back to take the lead. But with just one second before the buzzer, Bates notched up his sixth point of the match to go into the break with the scores tied at 19-19.

Spain continued to up ante and looked to have turned the tie in their favour when Agustin Alejo established a five-point lead for Spain inside the second quarter.

But GB again battled back impressively thanks to Phillip Pratt, who tucked away 17 crucial points in the match, to lead 37-32 at the halfway stage.

As both sides pushed for the advantage, the match ebbed and flowed throughout the third period as Great Britain finished with a six-point lead with the scores at 51-45.

Keeping their composure Britain became the first team to advance to the semi-finals as successive Terry Bywater free throws with 30 seconds left on the clock gave GB an unassailable 67-62 lead.

Unfortunately, GB’s women couldn’t add to their four-game winning hot streak as the team came unstuck against the Netherlands in a tough 66-41 loss.

They finished second in their pool with four wins and one loss.